Sunday, October 26, 2014

Matching the Essential Components of School
Improvement with a School-level
Committee Structure that Facilitates Shared Leadership and Staff/Student
Success

All schools need to improve. . . to look at
their current status and outcomes, and move to the next level of
excellence.Some schools have been mired
in “failure”. . . or at least failure as defined only by the fact that their
students are not achieving academic proficiency based on a single annual
high-stakes test (a definition of “success” that we disagree with).

Regardless. . .with all of the discussion
about school improvement— especially at the federal level— a critical missing
element is shared leadership.Below, we
discuss one element of shared leadership by describing a practical blueprint
for school-level committees.Implemented
by us in thousands of schools nationwide, this blueprint is adapted to the size
and complexity of the school (elementary through secondary), but it is
accompanied by the following basic principles:

**All
instructional staff are on at least one school-level committee.

**Every committee is co-chaired by instructional staff members
(administrators are ex officio to all committees), and the co-chairs
form the core of the School Leadership Team.

**Every committee (except the early intervention Student Assistance Team) has
at least one representative from each grade-level or instructional team, along
with representatives from other support personnel groups.

**Every
committee has an annually-written “Mission, Roles, Goals, and Function”
document— that is shared with other committees to ensure coordination and
collaboration, and whose goals are reflected in the school’s School Improvement
Plan.

**Every committee meets at least monthly, meetings are posted in the
school’s Master Calendar, meetings have explicit agendas and outcomes, meeting
minutes are taken and publicly posted, and committees evaluate their progress
on a quarterly basis with data.

_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _

How are School-level Committees
Conceptualized?

At least within the blueprint, the
school-level committee structure should mirror the components that help schools
to be organizationally successful.This
is simply good business.Critically, if
you look at any of the national school improvement groups, you will see the
following components almost consistently reflected:

These school improvement components, then,
are reflected in the School-level Committee Structure blueprint as follows:

**The School Leadership Team (SLT)

**The Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) Committee

**The School Discipline/Climate (or PBIS) Committee

**The Professional Development/Staff Support and Mentoring Committee

**The Community and Family Outreach Committee

**The Multi-tiered Early Intervention School Assistance Team (SAT)

_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _

A Brief Description of the School-level
Committees

Briefly, each committee has the following
basic responsibilities:

**The
School Leadership Team (SLT) coordinates and guides all of the shared
leadership planning and implementation processes in a school, overseeing the
activities of the five other committees and the grade-level and/or
instructional teams.

**The
Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) Committee facilitates the
development and integration of the school’s academic curricula with (a)
effective classroom instruction, (b) progress monitoring, (c) formative and
summative evaluation, and (d) the use of student-centered remediation,
accommodation, modification, assistive supports, and curriculum-based
intervention.

**The
School Discipline/Climate (or PBIS) Committee oversees the activities
and instruction that result in (a) positive and safe school and classroom climates
and interactions; (b) effective positive discipline and classroom/behavior
management approaches; (c) students’ learning and demonstrating interpersonal,
social problem-solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional
coping skills; (d) effective school safety and crisis preparation practices;
and (e) strategic or intensive services, supports, and strategies (including
those involving school-based mental health) for students with critical social,
emotional, or behavioral needs.

**The
Professional Development/Staff Support and Mentoring Committee oversees,
facilitates, and evaluates the school’s professional development (PD), and
formal and informal collegial supervision and support activities.These activities help all staff feel
professionally and personally connected to the school and its continuous
improvement processes, as well as help instructional staff to be successful
relative to the district’s teacher evaluation system.

**The
Community and Family Outreach Committee focuses on establishing and
sustaining the collaborative approaches needed to address students’ academic
and social, emotional, or behavioral needs in home or community settings, and
to increase the support, involvement, and leadership of parents, community
agencies, and other organizations in accomplishing the school’s mission and
goals.

**The Multi-tiered Early Intervention School Assistance Team (SAT)
is the school-level committee that facilitates the use of the functional
assessment, data-based problem-solving processes that identify the strategic or
intensive instructional or intervention services, supports, strategies, or
programs needed, academically and/or behaviorally, by students who are not
responding to effective classroom instruction or behavior management.Meeting on a weekly basis to process new and
track existing cases, the SAT team consists of the strongest academic and behavioral
assessment and intervention specialists in or available to the school, who work
with the teacher (or teaching team) that needs to discuss specific students of
concern.

_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _

Summary and Free Follow-Up Resources

Critically, some schools have too many
committees or too few committees.When
there are too many committees, there is a risk that some committees are working
independently, redundantly, or at cross-purposes.When there are too few committees, there is a
risk that some staff have too many responsibilities and are at-risk for
burn-out, or that other staff are unhappy that their viewpoints are not
requested or reflected.In either case,
the success of the business (that is, the school) is dependent on people
working collaboratively— with both effectiveness and efficiency.

Clearly, shared leadership is essential for
ongoing and continuously effective school improvement processes— whether you
have an exceptional school or a school identified as needing improvement by
your state through the ESEA process.

For more information, please
click on the link below for a free
technical assistance paper on “Developing an Effective School-level
Committee Structure.”

In addition, feel free to watch the webinar
below that was delivered to a national audience interested in school
improvement and strategic planning. [CLICK HERE]

_ _ _ _ _

As always, I hope that some of the ideas above
resonate with you. Please accept my best
wishes as you continue to provide the services and supports that all of your
students need. Have a GREAT week !!!

I hope you are doing well as
we move into Fall and the end of the first quarter of the year.

Today’s message will carry
somewhat of a “mixed message.”I am
going to discuss trauma, its impact on students in schools, and the importance
of implementing approaches that help these students to succeed in school.

At the same time, I am going to
emphasize that many of the approaches needed for these students are no
different than other (or the same) students who have experienced significant,
negative home or life events; teasing or bullying; persistent academic failure
and frustration; social rejection, aggression, or isolation; or acute or
chronic exposure to violence.

Finally, I am issuing a
warning that an increased emphasis on “Trauma-Sensitive Schools” and
“Trauma-Informed Practices” by the federal government and some of its funded
national Technical Assistance centers has already created yet another “cottage
industry” of companies, consultants, and “specialized trainings” in this area.

My concerns are rooted in my
attendance at the National School-Based Mental Health Conference last month in
Pittsburgh.I have attended (and
presented at) these conferences for at least a decade, and it was notable that-
- at the 2013 Conference- - there were virtually no conference sessions
on trauma-sensitive or –informed practices.And yet, suddenly, at last month’s Conference, there were ten or more
sessions discussing this topic.

Again, I am not saying
that this is not an important topic and/or mental health/behavioral
concern.However, I am cautioning
that many of these sessions were recommending “trauma-specific” treatments or
programs that have not been field-tested or validated in schools or with large
numbers of students.And yet, here they
are being advocated for at a major national conference.

Critically, virtually all of
these “trauma-sensitive or -informed” trainings:

*Are not needed at the Tier 1/Prevention or
even Tier 2/Strategic Intervention levels of social, emotional, and behavioral
support if a school has a sound school-wide program in this area- - one that
focuses on students’ social competency and self-management skills.

*Have not (once again) been field-tested nor demonstrated
their short- or long-term success or their unique need in actually
helping students to cope with significant levels of trauma (especially in the
absence of other mental health supports).

*Add yet another specialized responsibility to
our teachers’ “plates” that they are unprepared to fully address, and that they
should not need to address- - once again, if the school had sound Tier
I/Positive Behavioral Support System approaches in place.

_ _ _ _ _

The Bottom Line is that:

*We need to prepare and support all teachers
in how to create positive, differentiated, and success-oriented classrooms that
teach students the academic and social, emotional, and behavioral skills
that they need to be successful.

*These latter skills need to focus on teaching
students to demonstrate and apply interpersonal, social problem-solving,
conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional coping skills.As taught, these skills need to be embedded
into the academic activities where students need to collaborate and work
together, and into students’ social and interpersonal individual and group
activities and interactions.

*These skills need to be explicitly applied to
the areas of behavioral health, bullying prevention, truancy and dropout
prevention and reduction, PBIS and positive approaches to discipline, and
social and emotional learning.

*Schools and districts need to have skilled
mental health specialists (typically school psychologists and clinical social
workers) who know the cognitive-behavioral and emotional coping interventions
to help those students who need more intensive social-behavioral services and
supports.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

How Did this All Start?

The most-recent focus on
trauma began when a series of studies were published in the late 2000s that
related to the
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, research that originated with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; www.cdc.gov), and Kaiser Permanente's
Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.In
one of the largest investigations ever conducted to assess the relationship between
ten specific childhood experiences and their later-life health and well-being,
information was collected from patients who were undergoing comprehensive
physical examinations at more than 17,000 health maintenance organizations.

The ten home or family experiences covered
the first 18 years of the respondents’ lives (the survey does not
discriminate when the events occurred), and the experiences were rated “Yes” or
“No” relative to whether they ever occurred- - even once.The experiences involved (a) parental or
adult emotional abuse or physical threats, physical aggression, sexual
touching, sexual penetration; (b) parental drug abuse, separation or divorce,
mental illness, or incarceration; and (c) times where the respondent did not
feel loved or supported or protected, did not have clean clothes or
supervision, or did not have medical care when needed.

According to the CDC’s website, “the ACE
Study suggests that certain experiences are major risk factors for the
leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life in the
United States. It is critical to understand how some of the worst health and
social problems in our nation can arise as a consequence of adverse childhood
experiences. Realizing these connections
is likely to improve efforts towards prevention and recovery.”

Comment.Without minimizing the real impacts of these
individual and cumulative life events, and acknowledging the burgeoning
research in this area, it is important to recognize that:

*Most of the research in this area is correlational- - these ten
home and family life events during childhood or adolescent do not necessarily cause
adults to have health and/or social problems.All we know is that adults with these problems, retrospectively, had a
higher number of the ACE events.

Moreover, we cannot
generalize the results of data from thousands of adults to predict the impact
of these events on a single adult- - or even a single child or adolescent.

*For
an individual student, the intensity of the ten events may be more
predictive of the cited adult problems than the number of the events. Study participants did not rate the intensity
of the events- - they only reported, from their perspectives, whether the
events occurred or did not occur.

*For
an individual student, the age when the one or more events occurred, and
their emotional coping skills and/or the presence of external support systems
may be more predictive of the impact of the events than their actual number.

*As
noted above, there are other home, community, and school events (e.g.,
bullying, exposure to violence, the impact of a disability) that were not
on the ACE that may be as predictive to adults’ (and students’) health and
social status.

_ _ _ _ _

The Bottom Line is that schools need
to:

*Routinely
screen all students for social, emotional, and/or behavioral
concerns.However, we need to recognize
that the best screeners are classroom teachers who have positive
relationships with their students, are tuned in to them as individuals, and are
able to recognize when they are struggling in these areas.

*Have early intervention teams (e.g., Student Assistance Teams, Student
Services Teams) who include the best academic and behavioral professionals in
or available to the school- - who then work with the school staff,
parents/guardians, and the student him/herself to determine the “root causes”
underlying the social, emotional, and/or behavioral concerns.

*Have professionals skilled in social, emotional, and behavioral
interventions, and (when needed) additional mental health response systems so
that the services, supports, strategies, and/or programs needed to address the
underlying causes of a student’s challenges can be successfully addressed.

Significantly, this
“system” may involve school-based or school-linked community mental health
professionals- - especially when the school does not have the depth of
expertise needed, or when the student needs intensive supports at that level.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Where Has This Gone?

Somewhat parallel to the ACE research has
been work published in 2005 and then 2013 by the Massachusetts Advocates for
Children (MAC).Focusing first on the
policies needed to “Help Traumatized Children Learn,” and then to create
“Trauma-Sensitive Schools,” the MAC’s work has become embedded in legislative
action in Massachusetts that established (FY2014) a Safe and Supportive Schools
Grant Program.The grant money is to
help schools to create and implement plans to help establish “Safe and
Supportive School Environments.”

Significantly, the legislative act defined a
“Safe and Supportive School Environment” as:

“A safe, positive, healthy and inclusive whole-school learning
environment that (i) enables students to develop positive relationships with
adults and peers, regulate their emotions and behavior, achieve academic and
non-academic success in school and maintain physical and psychological health
and well-being; and (ii) integrates services and aligns initiatives that
promote students’ behavioral health, including social and emotional learning,
bullying prevention, trauma sensitivity, dropout prevention, truancy reduction,
children’s mental health, the education of foster care and homeless youth, the
inclusion of students with disabilities, positive behavioral approaches that
reduce suspensions and expulsions and other similar initiatives.”

In the 2013 document, the MAC
emphasized the importance of aligning all of the initiatives above
together because “the same legal and policy conditions necessary for trauma
sensitivity are also necessary for a wide range of other important education
reform initiatives.”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Summary and Conclusions

Many of the social, emotional,
and behavioral reactions, responses, and needs that students have when they
experience significant, negative home or life events; teasing or bullying;
persistent academic failure and frustration; social rejection, aggression, or
isolation; or acute or chronic exposure to violence coexist.Significantly, then, it makes no sense (nor
is it realistic relative to teachers, time, and training) to implement
separate, discrete prevention and early response programs for what appear to be
somewhat different situations.

We know that there are five
components needed in a (Tier I) prevention and early intervention approach to
supporting all students- - especially those students experiencing the life and
social circumstances above.These are:

*Establishing a behavioral accountability
system and holding students accountable to using their social, emotional, and
behavioral skills

*Maintaining consistency throughout the
process

*Applying the process to all settings, while
encouraging the different student peer groups in a school to become full
partners in supporting the process

Beyond this, schools and
districts need a continuum of services, supports, strategies, and programs that
provide interventions and mental health supports to students (and families) in greater
need.

We have got to work together-
- effectively and efficiently- - in order to establish these system, school,
staff, and student approaches.We should
not be swayed by companies, consultants, or
specialized training approaches that have not been field-tested or validated in
schools or with large numbers of students, and that take our attention away
from the “common core” of components that help create truly safe and support
school environments.

I hope that some of the ideas above resonate with you.Please accept my best wishes as you continue
to provide the services and supports that all of your students need. Have a
GREAT week !!!

Connecting with Howie

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About Me

Howard M. Knoff, Ph.D. is the creator and Director of Project ACHIEVE.After 22 years as a university professor and over 12 years as a federal grant director for a state department of education, he continues his national work as a full-time national consultant, author, and presenter.

Dr. Knoff is recognized nationwide as an expert in the following areas:

·School Improvement and
Turn-Around, Strategic Planning and Organizational Development

·Differentiated Academic
Instruction and Academic Interventions for Struggling Students

·Social, Emotional, and
Behavioral Instruction and Strategic and Intensive Interventions for Challenging
Students

·Multi-tiered (RtI)
Services, Supports, and Program

·Effective Professional
Development and On-Site Consultation and Technical Assistance

From 2003 through 2015, he was the Director of the federally-funded State Improvement Grant (SIG; 2003-2009) which then became the State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG; 2009-2015) for the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). These grants funded the state-wide scale-up of Project ACHIEVE--especially its school improvement, positive behavioral support, and multi-tiered RtI service system components. Through the ADE's Elementary and Secondary Education Act flexibility process, Project ACHIEVE was the state's school improvement model for all Focus schools.

Prior to that, Dr. Knoff was a Professor of School Psychology at the University of South Florida (USF, Tampa, FL) for 18 years, and Director of its School Psychology Program for 12 years. He also was the creator and Director of the Institute for School Reform, Integrated Services, and Child Mental Health and Educational Policy at USF, and was instrumental in leading the program to the accreditation of its doctoral program by the American Psychological Association.

Project ACHIEVE is a nationally-recognized school
effectiveness/school improvement program that has been designated a National
Model Prevention Program by the U. S. Department of Health & Human
Service’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA).Over the past 30 years, Howie
has implemented Project ACHIEVE components in thousands of schools or school
districts—training in every state in the country.He has also been awarded over $21 million in
federal, state, or foundation grants for this work, and recently received two
School Climate Transformation grants and one Elementary and Secondary
Counseling grant from the federal government to support work in Pennsylvania,
Michigan, and Kentucky.

Dr. Knoff received his Ph.D. degree from
Syracuse University in 1980, and has worked as a practitioner, consultant,
licensed private psychologist, and university professor since 1978.Dr. Knoff is widely respected for his
research and writing on school reform and organizational change, consultation
and intervention processes, social skills and behavior management training,
Response-to-Intervention, and professional issues.

He has authored or co-authored 18 books,
published over 100 articles and book chapters, and delivered over 1,000 papers
and workshops nationally—including the Stop & Think Social Skills
Program (preschool through middle school editions) and the Stop &
Think Parent Book:A Guide to Children’s
Good Behavior through Cambium Learning/Sopris West Publishers and Project
ACHIEVE Press, respectively.

Dr. Knoff has a long history of working
with schools, districts, and community and state agencies and
organizations.For example, he has consulted with a number of state departments of
education, the Department of Defense Dependents School District during Desert
Storm in 1991, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.He has also served as an expert witness in
federal court five times, in addition to working on many other state and local
cases—largely for legal advocacy firms who are representing special education
and other students in need.

Specific to
school safety issues, Dr. Knoff was on the writing team that helped produce Early
Warning, Timely Response:A Guide to
Safe Schools, the document commissioned by President Clinton that was sent
to every school in the country in the Fall of 1998; and he participated in a
review capacity on the follow-up document, Safeguarding our Children: An
Action Guide.

A recipient of the Lightner Witmer Award
from the American Psychological Association's School Psychology Division for
early career contributions in 1990, and over $21 million in external grants
during his career, Dr. Knoff is a Fellow
of the American Psychological Association (School Psychology Division), a Nationally
Certified School Psychologist, a Licensed Psychologist in Arkansas, and he has
been trained in both crisis intervention and mediation processes.Frequently
interviewed in all areas of the media, Dr. Knoff has been on the NBC Nightly
News, numerous television and radio talk shows, and he was highlighted on an
ABC News' 20/20 program on "Being Teased, Taunted, and
Bullied."

Finally, Dr. Knoff was the 21st President of the National Association of
School Psychologists which now represents more than 25,000 school psychologists
nationwide. He is constantly sought after for his expertise in a wide variety of school,
psychological, and other professional issues. You can e-mail him at: knoffprojectachieve@earthlink.net